downunder

Sydney needs a real theme or amusement park, we have a population of well over 4.6 million. Luna Park as a full amusement park got killed by the neighbours and this was also a problem for Wonderland. Maybe if the new Wet and Wild park opening soon is a success, an amusement park will follow...with Balder and Expedition GeForce clones. okay, now I'm just dreaming.

^Depends on whether you have a Fright Lane (mazes only) or not. If not: Mirror Mirror sounds like it gets the worst lines due to limited capacity and Black Magic gets clogged because it has a show mid-way through the maze. With Fright Lane: hit the big coasters (especially Xcelerator) and log flume early if you want to do some rides. If you want to do some shows, Elvira only has two shows a night, and from the video I saw, it looked pretty packed. The Boo-fet food wasn't bad last year: Mrs Knott's chicken, lots of meat, salad stuff, pasta, deserts, sodas & a souvineer cup. I can see if I have photos from last year when I get home from work to give you an idea.

^^I'll clarify that, front rows rides only on Ghostrider (with no wait to boot). I'm not a masochist. I guess the main pleasure is no line, knowing that suckers will be in a massive line once the rope drops.

^^Also where you come out of the buffet is roped off from non-buffet guests up to just past the Ghostrider entrance, and Ghostrider has been open the last few years while the buffet is on, so you can get some faux ERT with no wait. I always go for the earliest boo-fet at 5pm (doing that again this year) so I can maximise my Ghostrider rides before they drop the rope. It's good value considering how huge the line is for Ghostrider during haunt.

I'm glad Knoebels persevered with this project, now if only Scenic World would get Orphan Rocker going, but judging from previous posts, unlikely. A fantastic park got even better.

Liseberg & Gronalund for the tie, though I haven't been to any Japan parks. Europa rates a mention.

72, though several of the coasters on this list would be at the bottom of my bottom 100, including last place.

Great photos, I only went in 2010 and wasn't that impressed, but it looks excellent this year.

If it's ok for me to chip in. I used www.tomscruz.com a while ago, and they were around $70-$80 for a ride in a sedan back when I used them and pretty good to boot. They might be worth getting a quote. I've done the $10 flat fee cab ride from CP to Sandusky Greyhound and then Sandusky to Cleveland Greyhound. It was hell and a genuinely life threatening experience. Not recommended.

Damn, you beat me to it. Cyclone, as it is known at Dreamworld Australia, was an epic failure of sorts at Luna Park Sydney. Residents complaining about noise shut it down and eventually the park followed (it later re-opened as what TPR visited). And the coaster really sucked too.

Mods: please remove this post it was a duplicate of the one below because my computer was playing up. Thanks.

^For IOA, definitely hit the Harry Potter ride first thing, if you're willing to separate your party single rider line is good. Busch has a bus that leaves the Universal bus lot and costs $10 if you don't have a park hopper for their parks if you're not driving. I'd look into the stay and scream thing where if you're in the Uni during the day you stay, they clear the park and then straight into HHN. Also the behind the screams tours during the day are excellent.

I just pretended to eat a grasshopper in Trapped last year. Damn that guy with the beard in a dress in that room looked creepy. It sounds like it would be a good idea to hit Mirror Mirror & Black Magic early even with Fright Lane.

^Is the photo booth thing like what they had at Endgames last year where they force you to have your photo taken every time you go through the maze? That was so stupid last year. Thanks for the reviews btw.

I'm looking forward to HHN, even though last year (which was my 4th straight year of doing Halloween events, including H'wood HHN each of those years), I really started to see familiar props from previous years. I imagine the lower lot is going to be quite congested on busy nights given the majority of the attractions are down there. I've got VIP both nights I'm going, but I'll probably hit the lower lot first if my VIP tour isn't too early. I like to do mazes over and over and really take everything in, so I tend to marathon the same maze until I'm done with it. I think they've done a good job finding a number of new locations for mazes this year. Is there any truth to the rumour that JK Rowling will not allow any Halloween stuff near her Potterverse?

I'm going, so thanks for the tip. Love the band line-ups, very impressed.

But...but...if they installed a Balder or Outlaw Run clone and a GeForce copy it would save me a fortune on travel. It's interesting to see the pattern of their spending on major rides over the years (I haven't included the other parks): 1995 Lethal Weapon $16m 1998 Wild West Falls $18m 2002 Scooby Doo $13m 2005 Superman $16m 2006 Batwing $5m (also of note 2006 spent $23m on Outback Spectacular) 2007 Dodgems $1.98 2008 Stunt Driver Show $10m 2011 Green Lantern $8-$10m 2012 Justice League $9m 2013 TBC 2014 Outlaw Run clone $10m 2015 Expedition GeForce clone $18m Okay, I made up the last two....

Great photos, the starry sky ones in Yosemite were magical. It was nice to see Glacier Point, I've only done Half Dome and Yosemite Falls, so it was good to see what I missed. I still haven't been to the two San Fran parks, that would get me well over 600 coasters (587 ATM). Love New York, wish I was there right now.

^Banshee was $24 million US, the most they spend on attractions these days is $6 - $10 million. It's too big an outlay for the likeky return. Long gone are the days where they spent $14-$20 million on attractions like Wild West Falls, Tower of Terror, Superman & Scooby. Here's hoping they get something really good someday.

^Their summary of specials for each region is pretty handy. I scored business class on the Hong Kong to London leg both ways for an economy price last year. If you need any help just message me.

B & M's are a bit pricey for an Aussie park might be one reason. If you look at the level of spending on single attractions, it's been nowhere near what I would think any variety of Beemer would cost.

^Use London as a benchmark, they can be between $1500-$2000 for economy from Sydney. Virgin Atlantic and Cathay Pacific are 2 I can think of that fly via Hong Kong. I did the TPR Scandi trip in 2009, though I stayed in London either side of the trip. Look on the UK & Europe tab on bestflights.com.au, that will have a list of stuff that is on special (though I recommend using that website as a search engine and then go direct to the airline's website unless it's cheaper).

^You'll always be the Jizzman. Not something I'd ride more than once on each cycle, but I guess non-enthusiasts will lap it up. Personally, I'd rather see a coaster - surprise, surprise, surprise.

^Swimming in gravel, that might be a new fun thing for all those Hades 360 fans. I'm really looking forward to visiting next month, I might even see some track bolted in. If only they'd build a second dome full of Intamin (Balder, Mega-lite, Maverick clones), I'd try and move to Vegas if that happened. Thanks for the updates BTW.

A Six Flags park made #5 for friendliness, world gone mad. Though I have to admit even in Six Flags darkest days, New England was relatively pleasant. Hades 360 in the top 20 wood, seriously do some GT voters sacrifice babies and often use the phrase "thankyou sir, may I please have another". I guess Hades 360 is manna to masochists. I don't have a problem with Cedar Point being best amusement park. Though some of the coaster rankings seem a little out of synch with popular opinion. I was surprised HHN at Hollywood couldn't crack the top 5 haunts.